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October 5, 2008

ALDS 3: Angels 5, Red Sox 4 (12)

Hell of a game and a tough one to lose. If this had been an all-or-nothing game for both sides, this 5:19 battle -- the see-saw battle of the first five innings and the many missed opportunities for both teams after that -- would be on a short list of classic DS games.

Beckett had neither stuff nor control (5-9-4-4-6, 106), throwing 30 pitches in the first inning and 70 through the first three frames. He escaped the first down only 1-0, despite allowing a single, double and two walks. The Angels stranded eight runners in the first four innings.

With two outs in the second, Saunders walked Jed Lowrie, gave up a single to Jason Varitek and walked Coco Crisp. Jacoby Ellsbury popped the ball into short center. Howie Kendrick tracked it, took a peek at Torii Hunter coming in from center and backed off. The ball fell between them and Ellsbury was credited with the first three-run single in post-season history!

(That was not the only blunder made by the Angels. Torii Hunter was gunned down trying to stretch a single into a double to start the ninth inning. Jason Bay fired the ball in from the left field line to Dustin Pedroia. FY whirled around to make a quick tag, was surprised to see that Hunter wasn't there and had to actually wait a beat or two to make the easy tag on the headfirst-sliding Hunter!)

Mike Napoli hit a two-run home run in the third and a solo dong in the fifth as LA took a 4-3 lead. Boston came right back to tie in their half on doubles by Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis.

After the fifth, the Boston bats went AWOL. Their next hit would not come until the tenth inning. And it was at that time, against Francisco Rodriguez, that Boston had their best chance at a seies-clinching walkoff. After Dustin Pedroia (now 0-for-13 in the series) struck out, David Ortiz worked a seven-pitch walk. Yook singled to center and after Frod fanned Jason Bay, Mike Lowell also drew a seven-pitch pass. With Alex Cora running for Lowell, Lowrie smoked a pitch to right, but it was hit right at Gary Matthews for the final out. The Sox made Frod work, though, throwing 33 pitches in his one inning of work.

The Angels scored the winning run off Javier Lopez when Napoli opened the 12th with a ground ball single to left. He was bunted to second and scored on Erick Aybar's bloop hit to short center. Ortiz walked to start the bottom of the 12th, but Yook (F8) Bay (K looking) and Cora (5-3) could not move him along.

I look at all the chicken scratchings on my scorecard -- completely full at 12 innings -- and realize I could blab on for quite awhile, taking you through the six shutout innings tossed by the MDC-Jeemer-Masterson-Bot quartet and a bunch of other stuff.

And if I had punished my mind and ears with TBS sound, I could (judging from the game thread) offer plenty of pro-Angels BS from Chip Caray and Buck Martinez. A very blatant example came in the top of the seventh when Caray was doing a promo about possible Monday games and said that "hopefully" this series would go to a Game 4. He quickly qualified that statement with an "if you're an Angels fan" addendum.

The thought of relying on Daisuke Matsuzaka in a Game 5 in Anaheim on Wednesday is a bit scary, so let's hope Jon Lester is sharp on Monday night.

Also: The White Sox beat the Rays 5-3 and staved off elimination for another day. The Phillies beat the Brewers 6-2 and will begin the NLCS against the Dodgers on Thursday.

***

Pre-game note: Many of you have helped SoSock/Tim and Cathy raisemoney for a used car -- and I thank you profusely. ... I blog because I enjoy doing it. I'm against having a "tip cup" and I loathe advertising. I blog for free, you read for free. Simple. However, if you do feel like showing your appreciation for JoS (or you're just feeling generous!), please consider helping two of my friends. Thanks again.

Back at Fenway Park -- where they went 56-25 this year -- the Red Sox go for their third consecutive ALDS sweep over the hapless Angels.Los Angeles has a slight advantage when it comes to tonight's starters. Saunders led the Angels in Adjusted ERA and finished the regular season with 15 straight scoreless innings. In 2008, he put up Quality Starts in each of his three outings against the Red Sox: 18.2 IP, 18 H, 9 BB, 6 K, 3.38.

Past history says that Beckett "deserved" the ball in Game 1, but based on this year's performance, he's slotted in his rightful place as the 3rd starter. Beckett faced Los Angeles twice in July (13.1-20-2-14, 7.42). P.S.: After pictures of Beckett dragging his suitcase out of Fenway with his right arm last week were published, SoSH had some alternate theories of why Beckett was held back.

Against Saunders: Pedroia has the best average (7-for-18, .389), while Coco Crisp is 5-for-17, with four doubles and a home run. ... Against Beckett: Mrs. Garrett wears him out (.471 average, 1.291 OPS).

Note: If the Red Sox win tonight, Beckett could start ALCS 1 on Friday on normal rest. However, that would give both Lester and Matsuzaka nine days of rest before Games 2 and 3.

1,254 comments:

Right now, we don't know who the Dodgers' NLCS opponent will be (Joe Blanton and Jeff Suppan going today... Toss up, really), and we don't know the two teams who will play in the ALCS (although we have some amount of an idea)...

But the idea is floating around of how interesting it would be for the Dodgers and Red Sox to meet in the World Series. For the obvious reasons - Manny, Lowe, Nomar, Torre, etc etc. (wouldn't you love to have the audio of Vin Scully calling a Red Sox/Dodgers World Series?)

But one interesting scenario I think would be cool to play out is, assuming the pitching for both teams gets set up this way (that is, back to normal, with Lester/Beckett/Dice)... Have a Game 3 of the World Series matchup of Dice-K and Hiroki Kuroda. Two #18's, two similar deliveries - okay, maybe different pitching, although they both feature similar pitches)... I just think that would be cool.

At the time, you could have the choice of re-signing Cabrera, or let him sign elsewhere, pick up a first round pick and a second round pick, and then spend similar money as you would on Cabrera, on a similar shortshop like Edgar Renteria. Obviously Renteria didn't work out in Boston, and off he went.

So the Phillies just hit back to back dongs. The second landed in a standing room area, at the edge of which are tables. These people are sitting at a table, the ball is landing five feet to their left--and they just sit there and glance over! Get out of your seat and try to catch a home run ball!

I'm rooting for the Brewers so I can relive my childhood. I remember going w/ my dad to a friend's house to watch game 7 of the '82 world series and falling asleep before I saw them lose the game. (we didn't have a TV.)

Now, I want the brewers to get in so I can fall asleep before I see them lose game 7 of the '08 world series against the Red Sox.

After the Chicaco Cubs, the team with the best record in the National League, was swept in its best-of-five division series against the Los Angeles Dodgers Saturday night, it only seemed reasonable to ask Angels manager Mike Scioscia, whose team earned the best record in the American League after winning a franchise-record 100 games, why the best teams in September struggled to show that in October.

"Well, first of all, we're not getting eliminated tonight, so I'm not going to answer that question. And we'll talk about that if it comes up, because we're not going to talk about it now."

Chekhov's probably good for at least a month of quotes: "In the harbour there was a stench of ropes, and one caught glimpses of faces burnt brick-red, sounds of a pulley, of the splashing of dirty water, knocking, Tatar words, and all sorts of uninteresting nonsense."

"Wearing a threadbare old petticoat, withher feet bare and her sleeves tucked up to the shoulders, she was scrubbing the stairs in the entry and singing in a silvery little voice, and when she brought out a big tub of dirty water and looked up at the sun with her childlike smile it seemed as though she, too, were a lark." (In the Ravine)

Tizzle:"This is not apple Sox, or barbecue Sox. This is the Sox." (September 2003)

More:

"It kind of puts you in a good mood...You feel like Superman...'OK, I can't let my people down.'" (Hearing "MVP" chants and then delivering a game-winning single against Toronto on September 29, 2003)

"I feel great playing in Boston. I feel like this is my house and I need to protect my house." (April 10, 2006)

I contributed this one. I love it, but it's too long. From February 21, 2005:

"I only have one tape at home, the Red Sox one. I watch it over and over and over and over. I just watch that tape. It kind of hits me afterwards. When things are happening, you don't put attention to it, but when you're kicking back at home and you watch the DVD that they made for all of us, you realize, 'Man, I can't believe I did that.'"

A lot of people say they have been fans of whatever team since the year of their birth. I find that weird, too.

I know what you mean. I don't remember a ton before 2003, and I have holes there, too. But it was 2003 where I started watching every game. My first introduction to baseball was 1996 - and I was already 8 years old by then. Had other things on my mind. Like candy.

Ish, right, that's what I mean. I used to watch games with my grandfather and a great uncle when I was very young. Not whole games, I'd just wander in and out as they were watching. My grandfather was a huge Mets fans (and Dodgers fan before that - Brooklyn). But I can't say my fan-ness goes back to those days.

And of course MLB doesn't care if you can get cable or not. Just like they don't care during the World Series if you'd like to listen to the same two broadcasters you've been listening to all season. No. They throw Sunday Night Baseball Madness at you, radio style. And then of course, FOX.

re: Hot Corner - yeah, I'm viewing the mosaic 4-fer view. Also interesting between innings (although they will run a few commercials). The cameras switch around, so if you're watching, say, the batter view, you'll see it switch to the pitcher camera -- I suspect that's when they're swapping the views out for the TV feed. That's when I decided the 4-fer view was easiest.

The pitch location view is a tad behind the others (presumably so they can add the effects). In the previous game, they not only had the location box up in that view, but also showed the pitch locations over the plate through the entire at bat.